If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

How can I spot a fake patch?

I've been looking at a lot of patches on ebay lately but have been wary. I've heard all the horror stories about scammers and fake patches and I'm very inexperienced in this field. So my question is, how can I tell if a patch is fake? Are there any techniques or specific things I should look for? Any veteran help would be great.

With all of the recent reports of fake jerseys having been sold to the card companies coming out here lately, it's impossible to know which ones are actually legit. I've come to the realization that if I find a card that I want for my PC that has a relic in it that doesn't look like it's been tampered with, then I'll try & get it simply to have the card that I need. Personally speaking though, if 2 identical cards were up for auction, one with a single color swatch for $20 & one with a multi-color patch for $120, someone else can have the one for $120! Especially now that Beckett is starting to not slab cards for "questionable authenticity" when it comes to relics.

Hidden ContentSuperCollecting 3 generations of Yastrzemski's!Carl: 565/3430 not including 1/1's (16.5%), Mike: 8/8 (100%), Michael: 19/55 (34.5%)
Always looking for any memorabilia that I don't have to add to my PC! WANTLIST--->Hidden Content

It is a lot easier to spot a fake than it is to explain why one is fake. Sometimes it is obvious like the card contains a patch from 1994 but is on a card of Jose Reyes who wasn't playing baseball with the Mets then. Other times it is a lot harder to spot a fake because a lame looking patch was replaced with a flashier patch and the only way to know that is to search through old eBay buying history or know somebody who saved the images of all the serial numbered patches.

Basically if you post a picture of a patch or to a auction you can get a pretty good idea from the community if it is fake or not but you can't really tell most of the time unless you have the card in hand and can look at it up close which is impossible to do over the Internet. So my advice would be if it looks too good to be true then it usually is.

I've also noticed that Triple Threads cards have mostly one-colored jersey pieces in each of the 3 slots when they are high numbered such as /36. When they start getting down to /18 and /9 is when you finally start to see "patch" pieces such as multi-colored and stitches.

I know that's simple, but it worked for me. I had a person try and offer me a Triple Threads /99 auto and game-used, but the 3 pieces in the card were of the Majestic tag on the bottom of the jersey and part of the team name letters on the jersey. I was like "this is way too good to be true." I didn't want to take the risk even if it ended up being real. I've seen multiple examples of this on eBay as well.

Off topic: Does it bother anyone else that the name of the card is "Triple Threads" and people label some cards with 8x GU or whatever the number? I mean there are only 3 slots. Just had to get that off my chest lol. Sorry!

Only reason to ensure a card is real nowadays is if you personally see the card being pulled in front of your own eyes. I have dealt with perhaps the most reknown patch fake over the past 5 years and I just cringe at the mere idea that someone could do to such extents for a profit.